EVENT DESCRIPTION

Start:up Maribor Insurtech 2017

Three days for a creative breakthrough in the insurance industry!

We are organizing a three-day Insurtech Innovation weekend/business hackathon between the 17th and 19th of November where we will develop ideas in the field of insurance and we will be looking for new winning business models for a breakthrough in this industry. The main partner of the event is Zavarovalnica Sava, who is strengthening its innovation activities and wants to co-create the future of insurance with you.

Insurance is an old industry, that is ripe for disruption. This is exposing organizations in this industry of big business and operational risks, but is at the same time offering an opportunity for innovation and new business breakthroughs.

Join a group of 60 chosen individuals! We are expecting applications of motivated and knowledgeable developers, businessers, designers, insurance agents and co-workers of Zavarovalnica Sava, as well as startup teams, that want to innovate in the field of insurance and that want to establish a close partnership with Zavarovalnica Sava.

You will develop innovative ideas, prototype and check hypothesis of the business model, present the developed ideas to the leaders of Zavarovalnica Sava, and compete for attractive awards and an invitation to further cooperation, with the support of the team ofTovarna podjemov and excellent mentors.

We see the innovation weekend that we are organizing as part of the Start:up Maribor program, as one of the ways of sparking cooperation between big companies and startups, and thus adding an additional element in the entreprenurial development of the city and region.

Who are we expecting at this innovation weekend?

Disruptive innovations are always a result of motivated multidisciplinary teams, so we will carefully select 60 participants from all the applications. We expect active, knowledgeable, participants who realize that the only constant in business life is change and improvements.

We expect the applications of the following target groups:

inovative individuals; developers, businessers, designers, who want to innovate in the field of insurance and establish a close partnership with Zavarovalnica Sava,

startups, who see themselves in a business model with Zavarovalnica Sava,

partners of Zavarovalnica Sava; insurance agencies and other interested partners of Zavarovalnica Sava,

Application and timeline

STEP 1: Online application for individuals or teams - until 3rd of November

STEP 2: Contacting applicants and selection of weekend participants – until 7th of November

STEP 3: Martin's introductory evening – 10th of November

STEP 4: Inovation weekend – 17th - 19th of November

STEP 5: Follow up with the chosen individuals and teams

Location and logistics

The innovation weekend will take place between the 17th and 19th of November in the spaces of Tovarna Podjemov, Ulica škofa Maksimilijana Držečnika 6 in Mariboru. Organisers will ensure that there will be enough food and energy drinks.

At the location of the innovation weekend, there will be a space for sleeping, so bring your sleeping bags if you think you will need a couple hours of sleep. There will also the possibility of using a shower. If you are looking for more comfortable accommodation, there are plenty of options in Maribor.

TOP mentors

Support and help will be given by a TOP team of business and tech mentors. Each team will be joined by a mentor who will be their "supporter". The mentor will advise them, share experiences and if needed connect them with other mentors at the event.

The main coordinators of the mentor team at the innovation weekend are:

Robert Sraka, head mentor of innovation and digital transformation of Zavarovalnica Sava. Robert will take care of the content support of a wide team of Zavarovalnica Sava.

Luka Topolovec, co-founder and director of EqualEyes, that won on the famous TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon in London. Luka will coordinate the TOP tech and business mentors from the Slovenian start-up ecosystem.

Urban Lapajne, member of the team of Venture Factoryč, that will take care of the flawless organization and smooth operating of the event.

Why insurtech?

The insurance business is changing in the last few years and is increasingly digitizing, at the same time disruptive ideas, like new business models that enable advanced new technologies are in the air. According to some estimates the insurance industry will spend more than $200 billion on technology solutions in the year 2019. The driver of change are on the one hand startup companies, and on the other established insurance companies, that are looking for winning business models with transformations and partnerships with startups.

The opportunities in this industry are the main reason for the organization of a specialized insurtech innovation weekend, as we want to encourage the creation of new global startups in this field, strengthen the existing, and connect them with one of the strongest players in this field and HQ in Maribor - Zavarovalnica Sava. At Start:up Maribor, we strongly believe that the insurtech industry represents an excellent development possibility for the city of Maribor and the region as we have all the necessary ingredients for success: talents, startups, tech, strong insurance pillar, a developed support environment and a shared vision.

Zavarovalnica Sava acknowledges that they can only compete in their market by updating and redefining their business, as well as partnering with the startup ecosystem. That is why they are starting a new innovation cycle following the principles of open innovation with the active participation of key exosystem stakeholders with the Start:up Maribor program.

At the forefront of this new development paradigm is the individual, that with the help of modern communication tools (mobile and other interenet connected devices), supported by advanced technologies (artificial intelligence, analytic tools, machine learning, blockchain ...) is accessing tailored and advanced insurance services.

Challenges of the innovation weekend

Modern communication paths of the insurance business

Clients of Slovenian insurances are communicating with insurance companies through traditional channels and through representatives. The challenge is how to empower representatives to more efficiently use the communication paths that they prefer and how to transparently move between them - using technologies like social media, machine learning, chatbots or artificial intelligence. By utilizing these technologies Zavarovalnica Sava can drastically iprove the user experience of it's clients and increase loyalty.

The challenge of an effective damage case process

New technologies enable the improvement and upgrade of the existing process of damage reports from the view of the user. The key challenge with which Zavarovalnica Sava is dealing is that the damage case process is still taking place in the traditional linear process. New business models that are focused on the priorities of users and technologies of predictive analytics or crowdsourcing can increase the speed of the damages process and can make it more transparent and less stressful for the user.

Your ideas

Along with the challenges of effective damage process and modern communication sales and promotional paths of insurance, the last challenge is a free nature one. Currently the biggest trends in the world of upcoming technology are in the field of artificial intelligence, connected devices and broad reality, as well as digital platforms. We know that you are full of ideas how to improve or change the insurance industry or the business models in it. So we are giving you an opportunity to develop your idea, test it with users and present your vision of the 21st century insurance business to Zavarovalnica Sava.

At the innovation weekend we will work on the modern methodologies of lean entrepreneurship and design thinking. Each team will receive an innovation box with tools and instructions. We will be develop a maximum of 15 ideas / teams. Each team is 3 - 5 members. There will only be 60 participants at the event.

Organizers and partners

Innovation weekend is organized as part of the program Start:up Maribor, the carrier of which is Tovarna podjemov, entrepreneurship incubator of the University of Maribor.

The supporter of Start:up Maribor is the Municipality of Maribor, that has been an active part of Maribor's startup community.

The core partner of the innovation weekend is Zavarovalnica Sava, that represents a strong element of the regional economy and society as a whole. ki danes predstavlja močan element regionalnega gospodarstva in družbe kot take. Zavarovalnica Sava wants to strenghten its role in the future with an active development and innovation activity in close cooperation with the key stakeholders of the ecosystem. Zavarovalnica Sava is giving the main award and content issues for the purposes of the innovation weekend.

The high level of programs of Start:up Maribor is guaranteed with the help of many active partners of the entreprenurial ecosystem, that each in their own way add to the quality content and execution of the program. You can find the partners at this link.